The 2025 General Appropriations Act, the subject of a petition to have parts of it declared unconstitutional, is the worst budget ever. It features several deformities, primarily in terms of priorities, which some senators said would be used as a reference in reviewing the 2026 bill.

The waste in public funds was very glaring in the budgets of the past years, according to Senator Ping Lacson.

The government spends approximately P16 billion a day, while revenue collections amount to about P12 billion; thus, a shortfall of P4 billion must be bridged through borrowing, which is a dilemma the annual appropriations have failed to address.

Lacson indicated that if the mangling of the national budget continues, the time will come when the government will be unable to sustain spending on services.

In the first year of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s presidency, the national budget was only P800 billion, yet the government managed to survive.

“Now we have almost P6.8 trillion in the proposed 2026 budget, but has anything changed? We still have pockmarked roads that cause problems to our vehicles,” Lacson lamented.

It is not bad to spend money, but there should be a return on investment, which is the parameter that Lacson wants the coming budget to be subjected to.

For instance, the opportunities lost due to vehicular congestion on EDSA is approximately P2.5 billion per day, and the government has failed to address it.

The problem of traffic jams has persisted for ages without any long-term solutions being offered.

The 2025 budget contains several entries that need to be fixed and not repeated in the 2026 budget.

For instance, Lacson cited flood control projects, the allocations for which have returned “with a vengeance.”

In the 2025 GAA, the national flood control budget was estimated at P779.38 billion for all agencies and multi-purpose projects, the bulk of which were pork projects.

In 2023, the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as the legislative pork barrel, unconstitutional and barred the creation of similar congressional lump sums.

In Bicol, a flood-prone region, P19.05 billion was allocated, representing roughly 7.4 percent of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Flood Management Program budget.

Despite the substantial allocations made yearly, severe flooding persists in that part of the country, as evidenced by the catastrophic deluge during Tropical Storm Kristine in 2024.

Floods persist despite the billions allocated in the yearly budget, as most projects are poorly designed or implemented, failing to address the root causes of the annual scourge.

Revetment walls and dikes may be built in areas that do not effectively mitigate flood risks, or projects may be left unfinished due to mismanagement or funding delays.

Despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive for a Comprehensive Master Plan against flooding, the DPWH still maintains fragmented programs driven by short-term political priorities.

Rapid urbanization, deforestation, and unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbate the flooding. Clogged waterways, resulting from thrown garbage and inadequate drainage systems, undermine flood control efforts.

Flood control projects have become the preferred conduit for the pork barrel, where legislators insert discretionary funds to benefit allies or secure kickbacks. The opaque allocation process, often finalized in closed-door bicameral negotiations, facilitates the practice.

In 2025, President Marcos Jr. vetoed P16.7 billion in flood control projects nationwide, citing concerns over corruption and inefficiency, which should have sent a clear message to legislators.

Legislators remained oblivious to the demand for a judicious use of public funds, their hides toughened by the tradition of the pork barrel.